If I’m honest with myself, I never stood a chance.  There are always a few dresses, right when a carpet begins, that make you despair for any fashion to come. They’re usually not really that bad, of course, only pedestrian; the kind of looks worn by people who are invited to come to a carpet very early, and whose stylists are working with other, higher-profile clients, these are the outfits that are available.

But it makes you really thirsty, even anxious for the looks that will come to wow you, and it’s a weird little thrill when they’re unexpected. Cynthia Nixon’s Issey Miyake was one of them, Elle Fanning’s electric mint Ralph Lauren, too. Your heart starts to soar with hope, but meanwhile your eyes are still mostly looking at a roiling sea of bodies in matte black…

And then the seas part:

Who are we even kidding. This is Louis Vuitton, and obviously she’s beautiful and it fits her perfectly – but two elements immediately rocketed it to the top for me – yes, even past Zendaya, (though of course she’s been retired from the game, as she’s continually the greatest ever to do it.)

The first is the colour. I am delighted by how many people associate me with a love of green, and I do – but copper or bronze is another deep favourite that doesn’t come up as often only because it’s that much more rare.

The second, of course, is that texture. I saw it like a 1980s executive desk toy – one of those perpetual-motion type devices that did nothing but was fascinating anyway. But someone else online described it like one of those beaded car seat covers, and I laughed out loud by myself.

The key either way is playful, not too serious, and that’s why this dress is so good. Because it’s not only fashion, it’s also strategy and personal branding, and I am always so excited when those things come together in a way that also looks fun to wear.

Chase is currently shooting Season 2 of The Testaments, in which she plays the roughly 16-year-old Agnes. In The Julia Set, which just premiered at TIFF, she’s a painfully naive university student. Her brand, in keeping with her starmaking role in One Battle After Another, is young and open-faced and looking at the world with curiosity and wonder – and it behooves her to keep that vibe going as long as she can, even though Chase herself is 26.  Still obviously young and vivacious, but not a teenager per se. So if she can keep that vibe and suspension of disbelief about her age, she has an even longer and broader career ahead, much like these two legends:

PS – I know she’s posing exactly like Zendaya, but the neurodivergent fidgeter in me can’t stop thinking about how great this dress would be to touch. Do you think those balls rotate? Maybe just some, so you can find a fidget at various points? If this is the next step in multifunctional clothing, I’d be really pleased.

Chase Infiniti at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, September 14, 2026

Photo credits: John McCoy/UPI/Chelsea Lauren/Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

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